Metahuman Revolution
by The Shroud
Summary: ArlyssTolero's "Flash: The Metahuman Revolution" Challenge Response: Barry Allen awakens from his coma in a rundown, underground facility and discovers that those like him, metahumans, are being hunted in lieu of Harrison Wells, who vanished the night of the explosion. He becomes Earth-1's answer similarly to Zoom, rallying meta's to his cause.
1. Rebirth

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Flash specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.

**Metahuman Revolution**

**Season One, Episode One:**

**Rebirth**

By The Shroud

**A/N:**

The first chapter of my first challenge response. Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, etc. ArlyssTolero's challenge (in full) is at the bottom. I apologize for perhaps mentioning the Wests a bit more fondly than some would like, but it fit the plot I have in mind and should be minor enough. The story begins below.

* * *

**Soundtrack: ****_Black World_**

**_Original Composition_**

**_Lucas King_**

**_YouTube Code (the thing after 'watch?v=' in the YouTube video link): _****_AKCzj0_QsX0_**

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_8:05 PM_

_Rain. _Pitter-patter, drip, pitter-patter, drop. Out of the pitter-patter, a drip-drop stood out.

Drowsily, he woke up, forcing his heavy eyelids to open and allow the light in- only to immediately shut them again. The little light in the room felt even worse than looking at the sun. He tried again, blinking rapidly, and succeeded this time, although squinting from how long it had been since he had last seen anything. Detached, he noticed water. Water was leaking through the roof, dripping besides him. A vague sense of confusion and incomprehension washed over him, as what seemed to be hundreds of questions assaulted his thoughts. Where was he, why was he there, how had he gotten there, what was happening-

Raining. It was raining. He was Barry Allen, a CSI for the CCPD. A glance revealed the familiar logo of STAR Labs. _That_ was where he was. He had sometimes visited his foster father here, at his work. Strangely, he was in an underground room he vaguely recognized, but everything looked absurdly rundown, as though abandoned for _months_. Harrison would never let that happen. But why was he _here_?

Barry sat up, and felt a slight tug on his arm and a small bit of pain. Looking left, a needle was dripping a fluid, swinging, having previously been inserted in his arm. Following the tube the needle was connected to, he recognized a _drip_, or IV. The whole system seemed impromptu, sloppy, inexperienced... designed to be ready as soon as possible... meaning it was for _him_ specifically, most likely. There was a bag half-full, and below it on the ground were a collection of other bags. Judging from the dust, the system had been in use for... many months, somewhere between seven and thirteen. But according to the mountain of disposed bags, even assuming the ones swept far away were not from his IV... at least a year, maybe a decade if they were from his IV.

Impossible. Even the seven to thirteen month guess barely made sense. NONE OF IT MADE SENSE, GODDAMMIT!

Starting to hyperventilate, Barry took a deep breath. Perhaps many of the bags were a bad batch with holes in the bottom, or were reused? Still strange, but possible. None of them had any extra holes, though. And why did he have an IV? Who set it up?

Not a professional, certainly. Then someone desperate or secretive. So someone with criminal intent or someone he knew. A criminal probably wouldn't do it, and even if one chose to do so, possibly in a revenge scheme devised while drunk, high, and insane all at the same time, that one would have tied him down. Someone that cared for him didn't make much sense either. Unless... he had been in a coma.

Possibly for several months, which explained the amount of dust and how rundown the facility was, in part. His body had to have had some problem, meaning a life-threatening injury... or a similarly life-threatening illness. Maybe he had contracted some weird virus that caused his metabolism to be in overdrive. That explained the number of IV bags. Judging by how the amount of dust from one bag to the next was almost exactly the same, they had not only been replaced regularly by whoever brought him here, but on the scale of every day... even every few hours.

That seemed to be a good hypothesis. And some accident must have happened at STAR Labs, forcing Harrison to abandon it. Could the two extremely improbable events be linked? It would make this whole thing much more probable... but how could that make any sense?

Ignoring that, how had he even gone into a coma if he was just working in his offi- the _lightning_.

* * *

_December 12_,_ 2013_

_8:05 PM_

Pulling aside the door to the roof, where he worked, Barry walked in, noticing that it was raining heavily, the roof leaking slightly. Walking over to his computer, he turned on the news and took off his jacket. Not much, just the weather and more on the particle accelerator. Well, good to know it was running smoothly despite the heavy weather - something Harrison must have already made sure it was prepared for, making these baseless worries moot. Picking up a piece of paper, he walked over to his evidence board, where he kept his investigations, most particularly into his mother's death, hidden behind a map of the city.

A note of panic in the reporter's voice drew him from his musing. "-storm may have caused a malfunction in the primary cooling system!"- _impossible; he has _never_ been sloppy in the slightest _-"Officials are now trying to shut down the particle accelerator, but so far have been unable to regain control of the-"

And the computer suddenly lost power. Peering over the computer in the direction of STAR labs, he saw a tremendous fireball forming over the accelerator, that suddenly exploded, moving at a whirlwind speed, far past that of sound. The wavefront was almost invisible, but he could see it sweep past him in an instant. Looking up at the skylight, Barry only just saw the top of the shockwave move through the clouds, and a brief moment of light- with just a moment to recognize he had been hit by lightning of all things, he fell to the floor, unconscious.

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_8:10 PM_

Pulling himself from his reverie, noticing five minutes had passed since he had woken up (by a clock on the wall), Barry settled upon ceasing the theorizing and instead going out to _see_ what was happening, as Detective West would argue in favor of. Standing up, he headed to the stairwell.

A few minutes later, he emerged, finding a desolate wasteland in the immediate surroundings of STAR labs. Looking around, Barry recognized Mark Mardon, a dangerous criminal, with what looked at first sight to be a SWAT team surrounding him, and quickly hid behind the stairwell's edge. Peeking from behind it, he soon realized that the 'SWAT team' had the word 'ARGUS' on their vests instead of SWAT, and had very different gear from standard SWAT gear. And as impossible as it should be, Mardon was _flying_, and raining down chunks of ice and bolts of lightning upon the agents of 'ARGUS', only for one of them to land a sniper bullet into his shoulder. Mardon fell down, hard, and was then cuffed- but with rather strange handcuffs.

Another one of them pulled out a tablet, before reporting to another, "Commander, according to this readout, there's another metahuman right _there_."

And the agent pointed directly at where he was hiding. But time seemed to freeze, the raindrops becoming stationary in midair and everyone else becoming immobile, not bringing out their guns any further or turning their heads. Taking the (rather confusing, as with everything else recently) opportunity, Barry started to run, suddenly darting forward with a burst of speed before tripping over his own feet... at least a quarter of a mile away, behind some other debris. Barely, he heard the conversation continue.

"Wait, no. It's gone now."

"Is your device malfunctioning?"

"Maybe, I'll get a replacement."

"I'll call in the helicopter."

As a helicopter swooped in and began to descend, Barry smelled burning rubber, and saw the bottom of his shoes were slightly burnt... and as he also saw his hand vibrating and being encircled by sparks of electricity, he began to understand just a bit of what might be going on... something similar to whatever had happened the night his mother had died.

* * *

_March 18, 2000_

_8:15 PM_

Hearing crashing sounds, Barry came running down the stairs, and saw his mother surrounded by what looked to be a tornado of red and yellow electricity, breaking things around her. Just as he opened his mouth to try and speak, he saw a man in a yellow suit in the lightning, and then the yellow lightning jumped at him- and then he was in a completely different place, somewhere many blocks away, near the West's house.

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_8:15 PM_

Once the agents left, Barry decided not to stick around (lest they come back), and started running, using his newfound ability, toward the house of Detective West (a friend from work), who might know what had gone on since he had gone into that coma.

_8:30 PM_

Having just arrived, Barry knocked on the door. After a moment, it opened, revealing Detective Joe West, who immediately embraced him in a hug. "Uh, it's good to see you too, Joe."

Releasing him from the hug, Joe looked around, then pulled him in before closing the door. Barry sat down on the couch, before asking awkwardly, "Is everything okay, Joe?"

Joe, well, exploded. "Is everything okay?! For almost ten months I think you're dead, this whole crazy metahuman thing happens, and then you just pop up and ask if everything's okay?"

"I don't know! Is it?!"

"No! How can you not know? How can doctors say you've flatlined and are dead, only for you to be perfectly fine?"

"Joe, I don't know what's happened. The last thing I knew, I was struck by lightning the night Harrison's particle accelerator turned on, and then I woke up from a coma inside of STAR Labs, with nobody around."

"So you know _nothing_ of what's happened since then?"

"_Yes_! Can you fill me in?"

"Well, that night, the particle accelerator experienced an accident. There was a massive explosion of intense dark matter or something that reached across the globe. That night, Harrison Wells just disappeared, dropped off the face of the Earth. In the explosion's wake, it was quickly discovered that it had caused some people to become what the news is calling metahumans."

"What does that mean?"

"They gained unnatural abilities. The kind of stuff you were always crazy about. Later that night, while chasing down a lead on the Mardon brothers, I found you on the rooftop, and dialed 911. The doctors said you had been struck by lightning, and- and- and that your heart had stopped. They said you were dead. Yet, somehow, you're not."

"Wait, I think I understand. My heart might have been beating too fast for them to detect the normal heartbeat."

"Well, why would that be?"

"Because... well, I think I'm a metahuman. When I woke up, I discovered I was able to run a mile not in three minutes, but in three seconds. Maybe two."

The conversation stopped for a second.

"You too, Barry?"

"You mean _you're_ a metahuman too?"

Joe shook his head, and walked over to a shelf before selecting a picture. "No, my son, Wally, was."

"Was? I'm so sorr-"

"He's not _dead_. The government imprisoned him."

"What for?"

"For being a metahuman. Nothing else."

"How can that be legal?"

"It is, because the government says whatever they want to do is legal. Metahumans all over the world are being hunted by an organization called the Advanced Research Group United Support, or ARGUS."

"Why?"

"Why? Prejudice, that's why. And fear, fear of what they're capable of, even if they'd never do it. Not to mention, they're the only ones available to blame with Wells having disappeared."

* * *

_8:35 PM_

They continued talking, catching up, until there was a loud knock at the door. "ARGUS agents, sir, open up!"

Joe whispered hastily, "Quick, go out through the window in the attic. I'll hold them off."

"But they'll hurt you."

"Barry, I don't have much left. My daughter was killed by the Trickster in 2002. My wife died to a drunk driver. My son's been imprisoned. I'm not a young man. You are. Maybe one day you can make this all right. But you need to escape. Let me help you."

Reluctantly, Barry nodded, and went upstairs. Joe West went to the door, and opened it a crack, and feigned being cranky. "Who are you? Why are you here? Do you have a warrant?"

"Sir, we're ARGUS agents. Let us in."

"Why?"

"We know there's a metahuman in your house."

"What makes you think that? Do you have a warrant?"

"We know, sir. We don't need a warrant."

"I refuse to let you in!" If they killed him... _so be it_. Let them send him to his family.

Up in the attic, as he got the window open, Barry heard three gunshots, and the march of footsteps. He closed his eyes, before jumping out the window and landing on some grass. Once he got up... Barry ran.

* * *

_March 18, 2004_

_8:35 PM_

Barry ran back as fast as he could... and saw an ambulance and several police cars. He started to run up the steps, seeing two police officers arresting his father, who was pleading his innocence. "Dad, where are they taking you?"

"Barry, don't go in the house!"

"Where's Mom?"

"Barry!"

"Dad!"

The officers forced his dad into their car, as he managed to get out, "Stay out of the house!"

Not heeding his warnings, Barry slipped past the cops right outside the door... and saw his mother's corpse. "Mom."

Detective Joe West turned around, and stopped him. "Barry..."

"What happened?"

Joe refused to answer the question. "Barry, I'm going to have to put you into foster care."

"What about Dad? What's happening to him?"

Joe couldn't dare say, and just led Barry out of the house.

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_8:40 PM_

Having escaped from the house, Barry continued running until reaching his own apartment. Feeling a bit dizzy, his right hand grabbed the door handle for support as his left hand moved to fish for his keys, until he realized that if 'ARGUS' could find him at Joe's, then they could find him here... but there was one person he knew that could help, in Star City, 600 miles away.

* * *

_10:30 PM_

Barry opened the door of the Foundry and stepped in, closing it behind him. He pressed the light switch- but the lights stayed off. He took out a flashlight, and looked around. Nobody seemed to be there- except for the faint sound of... wheels turning?

He crept forward, slowly, and heard the wheels again, along with the sound of something being picked up. Barry aimed the light in that direction, but no one was there. The same two noises again. Again, no one there. He looked behind himself, at the door, then back, waving the flashlight around-

A figure in a wheelchair rapidly rolled towards him, picking up a bow and arrow, before aiming them at him.

**"Hands in the air, or this arrow rips through your spine!"**

His hands went up by reflex, and the flashlight clattered to the floor, illuminating his would-be killer. "Oliver?"

"Barry?" Oliver slowly lowered his bow. "What are you doing here? Where have you been all this time?"

"Where's John and Felicity?"

"They're dead."

* * *

**A/N:**

And that concludes the first chapter. I hope everyone liked this (and that I can write the next chapter soon).

**P.S.** The challenge is below:

**Arlyss Tolero's "Flash: The Metahuman Revolution" Challenge**

Plot Bunny: Barry Allen awakens from his coma in a rundown, underground facility and discovers that those like him, metahumans, are being hunted in lieu of Harrison Wells, who vanished the night of the explosion. He becomes Earth-1's answer to Zoom, rallying meta's to his cause.

**Requisites:**

Dark or Evil Barry **-** Dark, as per what my usual is

Barry did not go to the Wests, but into foster care **-** Well... this should be interesting. *smiles mysteriously*

After finding out about the situation regarding meta's, Barry goes to Oliver for advice and finds the archer broken from his own attempt to help meta's **-** Absolutely. The bonding between the two is nowhere near developed enough in the shows, being mostly skipped over.

The accelerator MUST have affected people WORLD-WIDE, not just Central City **-** Why they didn't use this, I don't know. Maybe because the writers aren't big on the whole 'thinking things through' stuff.

Barry must break metahumans out of a prison run by A.R.G.U.S.

Barry must eventually have the Savitar armor **-** That is the best suit, pretty much. Takes a while, as I'm not just throwing it at everyone's heads with some 'calcified speed force energy'.

A.R.G.U.S. are the primary ones imprisoning metahumans

Barry's Love Interest must be as broken as he is - Only a few match this, and I think gives me a rare good chance to justifiably use a somewhat unexpected rare-pairing [hint, the love interest is from S1]

**Writer's Choice:**

Oliver becomes an Alfred-like figure for Barry, helping him design his suit (think Zoom's outfit for the first one) and helping plan a jailbreak - Yes

Others from Arrow/Supergirl/LoT become a part of Barry's revolution **-** Yes. Even though E-38 doesn't exist in this multiverse.

A.R.G.U.S. is joined by other 'shadow organizations' in trying to bring down the metahuman threat **-** Cadmus, the League, and H.I.V.E. would be intrigued, though they have their own varying _concerns_ and _methods_.

Cisco finds a way for Oliver to walk again and the Emerald Archer joins the Revolution - Yes.

At least one 'shadow organization' aside from A.R.G.U.S. must try to ally with the Metahuman Revolution **-** Eventually, you may be able to guess which

There are dissenting voices to the Metahuman Revolution who believe they should take a pacifist approach and petitioning governments **-** Yes

Barry meets the Reverse-Flash and learns the truth about the accelerator **-** Yes, it's the first season finale

Eddie Thawne or Wally West become The Flash in Barry's stead **-** Yes. Each do have their own speedster role, and one is the Flash. Neither are evil. Well, not exactly… or consciously.

**Restricted:**

Barry as The Flash

Oliver not having tried to protect meta's (especially Laurel)

Barry growing up with the Wests

Barry not rallying metahumans to a revolution

A.R.G.U.S. being good guys - There may be a time where one of the leaders act sympathetic due to a close relative being a metahuman, but I can confirm none of A.R.G.U.S. as a whole being right.


	2. Broken

**Disclaimer:**

I do not own DC Comics. I do not own The CW. I do not own anything related to DC Comics in general, or Flash specifically. Except maybe a few DVDs of old DC movies that I haven't given away yet.

**Metahuman Revolution**

**Season One, Episode Two:**

**Broken**

By The Shroud

**A/N:**

The second chapter. Please review on whatever you can, suggestions, ideas, etc. I've been entirely inactive here for… a long, long time. I even began to no longer at least read the works of others. But recently, I've begun catching up, getting through… tons upon tons of chapters. And now, I'm going to set aside one hour every day to write. And then ten minutes to edit. I wrote this paragraph on July 10, 2020. I'm hoping that I'll no longer lapse into torpor, and soon be able to fulfil some promises I've made in regards to finishing, continuing, beginning, or rebooting stories. I guess we'll find out. The story begins below.

* * *

**Soundtrack: ****_Broken _[AN: _Ignore the 'set video speed to 2'_]**

**_Original Composition_**

**_Lucas King_**

**_YouTube Code (the thing after 'watch?v=' in the YouTube video link): _****_XoKOXCUiN4g_**

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_10:28 PM_

Oliver Queen, son of Robert and Moira Queen. Revealed, and on the run from ARGUS, the very people he once worked for.

The Arrow, once the Hood and Kapiushon. Broken, and battling the law enforcement in Star City, the very place he was trying to save.

_Broken_. No longer able to fight for his city the way he once had. Oliver was no longer able to easily stand up or walk, let alone run and jump. When he did walk, he had to use a cane or risk falling while stumbling every few seconds. And the constant, unceasing pain, in between his damaged legs and his tinnitus, had driven him to the regular use of painkillers.

But he was alive. That he could still say. And he had slowly rebuilt the Foundry, which had been destroyed** twice** by ARGUS, rebuilt with supplies retrieved with the help of his brothers in the Bratva, which came in return for taking out some businessmen that worked for the Triad and other competitors (given his skills with a bow and arrow even from large distances, mere assassination was only made into a half-challenge by his injuries). The Foundry was back to almost its original state.

Except the lights didn't work.

Nonetheless, he could see fairly well in the dark, he didn't care to try and replace them (especially given his current difficulty with stairs, let alone ladders), and he was safe-

The door opened as someone stepped in, closing it afterwards. Whoever it was pressed the light switch, to no effect. Oliver slowly wheeled towards his bow, before swiftly wheeling behind the table it was on to hide himself when the intruder took out a flashlight, and looked around. He thanked the fact that the wheelchair was a rather silent one.

The intruder crept forward, slowly, as Oliver picked up his bow, before rapidly careening away just in time to avoid the beam as it was aimed in his direction. He picked up an arrow, now moving closer to the mysterious trespasser while keeping himself close to shelter from view. He waited, until he got an opportunity as his new target looked behind himself, at the door, then back, waving the flashlight around-

Oliver rapidly rolled towards him, picking up the bow and arrow from his lap, before aiming them at him, the voice modulator in his pocket already activated. **"Hands in the air, or this arrow rips through your spine!"**

The invader's hands instantly flew up, and their flashlight clattered to the floor, blinding him for a moment. "Oliver?"

He instinctively almost, _almost_ fired the arrow at being blinded before his friend could move, but he recognized that voice, and slowly lowered his bow, deactivating the voice modulator. "Barry? What are you doing here? Where have you been all this time?"

"Where's John and Felicity?"

"They're dead."

Barry stumbled slightly. "What? H-how? What happened?"

Oliver sighed and wheeled over to a table with a laptop on it, putting down the arrow and the bow next to it, before picking up a bottle of painkillers and opening it. "A government organization named ARGUS happened. They didn't take kindly to breaking out a group of metahumans, which are-"

Barry opened his mouth- "...which I can tell I don't have to explain about."

He closed it, as Oliver continued, "I was the only one who survived, and barely at that, except for the remaining metahumans who then went back to prison."

Barry picked up the flashlight, though his eyes were already becoming accustomed to the low light level. Oliver popped a pill into his mouth, closed the bottle, and went to open the laptop, then asked, suspiciously, "It's been months since then. Where were you?"

"I don't know."

At the questioning look, Barry elaborated, "Well, after being struck by lightning - of all things - not long after I got back to Central City, I woke up in STAR Labs, with an IV attached to me, just yesterday. I don't know how, or who did it. And I discovered I was a metahuman, that I was able to run a mile not in three minutes, but three seconds. Which is how I got here."

Oliver quickly connected the dots. "Then- I suppose, since you already know what metahumans are- you went to see a close friend. But then something happened. After all, you didn't just run 600 miles to say hi to me."

Barry shakily took a nearby seat, burying his face in his hands, before looking up. "A friend from work, Detective West. He explained... a bit. And then... and then..."

He finished the sentence for him, softly. "And then ARGUS happened to him, too."

His friend could only nod, and remained silent- before suddenly standing up and beginning to pace, his head shaking, until he stopped and looked directly at Oliver. "All my life I've been wanting to do more. To be more. And now on the day I am, the whole world's gone crazy, _multiple_ of my friends are **dead**, I'm being hunted down by a government agency, and now I'm beginning to regret I ever wished for that. Hell, it doesn't make me some kind of hero. It just makes me some guy struck by lightning."

Oliver wheeled closer. "Those five years I was away, I didn't just get lessons in archery. I faced things most people wouldn't have believed until this whole thing happened, like with the guy who stole the centrifuge, Cyrus Gold. In reality, the world was already crazy, and getting crazier- it just hadn't realized so yet. This, all this- it had nothing to do with your hope to be more. If anything, it's only further proof that someone who wants to be more is exactly the kind of person the world needs more of."

Barry felt unworthy of the compliment, and distracted himself with another line of thought. "How did Cyrus Gold get his capabilities, since you mentioned him? After all, that was before the explosion."

"Someone I knew gave him his abilities, using a special serum developed in World War Two by the Japanese. Someone who was once my friend."

* * *

_December 22, 2013_

_Foundry_

Late at night, in civilian clothing, Oliver turned off the computer screen and rubbed his eyes, when he heard a familiar voice and stopped. "...very far in a few months. Don't beat yourself up."

He turned around, and saw himself, Shado, and Slade, back on Lian Yu. "Shado."

His past self remarked, "Apparently that's his job."

Slade nodded while smirking. "And I love my job."

His former friend turned to look straight at him. "Isn't that right, kid?"

Oliver shakily stood up and lifted up the bow and arrow that were now in his hands. "What the hell?"

Slade was suddenly right in front of him, batting away the bow with the sword in his right hand before kicking him in the stomach. He fell-

_Lian Yu_

-onto the soft ground of Lian Yu, now in the clothes he had used while training with Slade before going to Fyers' camp, before being kicked in the stomach. He rolled to the side before getting up, holding two sticks. Slade slowly walked toward him. "I keep my promises."

Too off-balance to think, he threw the sticks at Slade, who simply batted them away with his own, before turning and running, now wearing Yao Fei's hood as he made his way through the trees.

Oliver arrived in the middle of a small clearing, and looked around frantically, not sure what to do. From the sky fell an elbow on the back of his neck, a sword sliced at his right leg, and just as he fell to his knees, a heavy foot dropped onto his left leg, breaking it. He felt cold metal at his neck as Slade growled into his ear, "Twitch, and I open your neck."

They were now in the fuselage. He stilled, and Slade whispered viciously while putting him in a chokehold, "Now, tell me, of your friends, who do you want to die?"

Slade placed more pressure at his throat, preventing any air from passing, while insanely not realizing his inability to speak. "TELL ME! TELL ME WHO DIES! OR THEY ALL DIE!"

Slowly, Oliver began to lose consciousness, his throat and lungs feeling like they were about to explode, as visions flashed by his eyes.

_CNRI_

Slade activated a detonator, setting off explosives planted in the building, levelling it. As it finished falling apart, he calmly walked in, taking out his sword. Tommy slowly crawled out from under some rubble, a few scratches on his face, before flipping over and seeing Slade- who impaled him in the chest. He then removed the sword, walking in further amongst the bodies of other people from CNRI... before making it to one Miss Laurel Lance, who was gasping for air amidst the dust- until Slade severed her head, which rolled along the ground until he stopped it with his foot.

_Glades_

The Canary heard a thud behind her, and turned to see Slade had slammed Sin against a wall, beginning to choke her out, before dropping her and holding a sword to her neck. "Yourself or your friend. Choose."

She froze, grimacing, but held up her staff in the air, before lowering it toward the ground. "Myself."

Slade nodded, and removed the sword from Sin's neck- as Sara kicked up the staff back into her hands and batted away the sword, calling out, "Go, leave!"

She moved to strike again- and Slade simply caught the staff strike with enhanced reflexes, before yanking it out of her hands with his Mirakuru-enhanced strength and then shoving it through her chest, protruding from the other side. "You should know, just as you lied back on Lian Yu, so did I here."

With his other hand, he pulled a gun from his coat and aimed at Sin. "I was never going to spare either of you."

He fired.

_Unidac Industries Auction_

On an upper level, Slade fired again from behind the column, this time catching Diggle in the chest, before walking closer and shooting him in the head.

_Queen Consolidated_

Slade walked into the office. Seeing her there, he pulled out a pistol and shot Felicity, before withdrawing his sword from a coat and turning to dispose of the witnesses before they called 911 and he had to bother with the police.

_Verdant_

Late at night, Thea and Roy got into the car- and Slade activated a bomb, killing them instantly.

_Queen Consolidated_

Slade burst in from a cable he set up from the roof, before getting up to aim at Moira. She begged. "Please don't kill me."

She noticed a picture, and grabbed it, holding it like a shield. "I'm... I'm a mother. I have a son-"

Slade smirked, and interrupted. "I'm afraid your son is _exactly _why I'm going to kill you."

She immediately dropped the picture and reached for a gun- and he pulled the trigger first.

At the door, Walter stood in shock, having just entered after hearing the window break, before Slade quickly turned to shoot him as well.

_Lifeboat_

While looking in between his son and Dave Hackett, Robert was wearing a lifejacket- that became splattered with blood as Slade shot him point-blank, barrel to his temple.

_Lian Yu_

Oliver saw Slade kill everyone he knew, again, and again, and again... everything began to fade to darkness... but now Slade let him go, let him fall to the ground, tasting the dirt.

Oliver gasped for air, before weakly begging, pleading. "Please... just kill me now... kill me..."

Slade took out his gun... and simply shook his head, beginning to disassemble it, throwing the pieces at Oliver. "No. You want to die, you do that yourself."

He spat on Oliver, before walking away. Feeling renewed vigor, Oliver picked up the pieces of the gun, put them together, stood up, and aimed- to see Slade had vanished.

He fell again to the ground on his knees, with his broken leg flaring up in protest at the impact, utterly defeated.

He stared at the gun, almost letting it fall out of his grasp.

He tightened his grip, still seeing visions of everyone dying.

He lifted the gun once more-

Lifted it, to his own temple.

A tear fell from his left eye, landing on the tip of a blade of grass.

He pulled the trigger.

* * *

_Verdant_

_1:58 PM_

Oliver awoke with a start, gasping, before looking around to see he had fallen asleep at the computer station, from exhaustion, particularly that resulting from the recent re-encounter with Mirakuru.

He slowly got up, stumbling away from the desk, too bothered to remember to turn the monitors off. He had to go see everyone, see or hear for himself that they were okay.

* * *

_2:00 PM_

Oliver stumbled up from the basement, barely remembering to close it.

From behind the bar, Thea starts at his frantic demeanor, dropping a wine glass on the countertop. She attempted to grab it by reflex, but as it shattered, she only managed to cut her hand, and cursed.

Oliver looked at her in turn, and rushed over, hugging her, a little shaken from this latest nightmare and days of no leads on the . Thea hugged him back lightly, then- barely- escaped. "Ollie, it's just a broken glass, I barely got scratched."

"Yeah… just good to see you're okay."

Oliver released her easily as Sebastian Blood, who she had been serving, looked on in some bewilderment. Thea stepped back awkwardly, then stepped over to wash away the blood or any glass shards. She took out three pieces, expecting more blood… but it just stopped bleeding.

Oliver asked, seeing her puzzled expression, "You alright?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah… must have looked worse than it was."

Oliver was about to ask further- when Blood received a text, and stood up slowly. "Laurel..."

Oliver's attention snapped to him quickly enough that Thea experienced a bit of whiplash. "What happened?"

Blood looked up at him. "Car accident. She's at Starling General n-"

Oliver paid no further attention, stalking toward his motorcycle. After a moment, Blood followed suit, going to his car. They sped off without a word, and Thea sighed as she begun to clean up the glass fragments.

* * *

_2:30 PM_

Oliver turned onto the hospital's street- as he heard a car crash behind him. He stopped to look back.

He saw two cars, one of them Blood's, burning, and flipped over, and the other being driven by a man _on fire_, who quickly sped off.

He stepped off, running toward Blood. The car seemed to be unnaturally wreathed in fire in places. Oliver arrived on Blood's side, which had less fire, but the alderman waved him away frantically. "The driver, get him out!"

Oliver got to the other side, pulling the driver out past the remnants of the windshield and the flames, dragging him across the asphalt and then putting out the small flames on his clothes that were frighteningly persistent. He'd been hurt pretty badly.

Sebastian dragged himself out, and stood up painfully. Oliver turned to him, seeing he was partially covered in soot, yet had not really been burnt, though his eyes were terribly irritated- and his right forearm was broken, the bone jutting out, but not breaking through the skin. "Damn it… everything's been getting crazy since a week or two ago- about when that accident in Central happened."

Oliver paid the raspy complaint no mind. "Come on, let's get into the hospital."

Later, after they brought the driver to a doctor and hearing he would live, if barely, Blood allowed himself to be treated, as Oliver finally went to see Laurel, praying.

He stepped into the room, and was relieved to see she was doing okay, talking with her father, who was sitting in a chair beside her on the opposite side of the room from the door.

They turned to him, and he smiled faintly. "Hi. I wanted to see that you were okay."

Quentin scoffed. "You forget to bring flowers, Queen?"

Laurel sighed at her father's antics, and began to sit up, wincing in pain. "I'm fine… just a bit banged up, but I'll be back on my feet soon."

Oliver nodded- as she hit a tender spot, the pain flaring up. She screamed in pain- screamed a sonic scream, powerful enough to make the wall **crumble**, revealing an empty room beyond.

Quentin's gaze bounced between Laurel and the wall's remnants. "What was that?"

Laurel could only stare at the wall in shock. "I don't know."

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_10:32 PM_

Not wanting to think of the past himself, Oliver returned to the original topic. "But there's a bit more to what you're saying, isn't there?"

"Honestly... I'm afraid. A friend of mine died trying to protect me. He thought that one day I could make this all right. But what if he was mistaken, and I wasn't worth it? What if I can't do that? What if he died for nothing?"

"If you really do this, you're going to be unsure of yourself, scared, terrified. I've asked myself those questions a hundred times, a thousand times. But so long as you push through it, the good you do will far outweigh the bad."

"I'm just not sure I'm like you, Oliver. I don't know if I can be some vigilante, or revolutionary."

"No, you won't be like me. You can be better. I've made my fair share of mistakes, without anyone helping me. But I can be there to help you."

* * *

_December 23, 2013_

_10:35 AM_

_Starling General_

Oliver stepped into the room. Laurel was alone, reading a case file. She glanced up at him, and he smiled, making a joke. "Today, I remembered to bring flowers."

She smiled in turn, putting aside the case file, and gently taking the bouquet in her hands. "Thanks."

Oliver was about to speak- as a doctor brushed past him, moving to beside her. He asked, "Is something wrong?"

Laurel sat up straight. "Is this about the test following that incident with the wall? Did you find anything?"

The doctor nodded, with a strange tone in his voice as he withdrew a syringe from his coat. "Indeed, that is so."

He was about to inject the IV with the syringe- as Oliver grabbed him by the wrist. Something was off. "Who are you?"

Laurel was surprised by the confrontation, yet the doctor himself tilted his head. "You'll find my ID is perfectly in order, Mr. Queen."

Somehow, the face was familiar. "You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it."

He reached out, and took the ID. He inspected it carefully, yet found nothing wrong. "Now, release me, and allow me to do my job."

Oliver narrowed his eyes, having a funny feeling. "What's in that syringe?"

The doctor answered truthfully. "A sedative."

Laurel asked before Oliver could, shaking off the surprise at his aggressiveness. "Why?"

The doctor hesitated, unlike with answering Oliver. "Given the results of a recent test, we were concerned."

"_Concerned_? What about?"

Hesimply stayed silent, eying Oliver, whose patience broke, and began twisting the wrist slowly, though the 'doctor' didn't blink. "Answer."

The man sighed. "Very well, sir. Her genes have changed, in a way that could be... hazardous."

Laurel was alarmed. "How so?"

After three seconds, he answered. "Possibly deadly."

Oliver asked, confused. "And what the hell is that sedative supposed to do?"

The man blinked in confusion, before clarity dawned. "Oh. That's how it's going."

"How what is going-" he was cut off by the man pulling a scalpel with his other hand and swiping at him with it. He stepped back, evading- as the man attempted to twist his other hand around to inject him with the syringe.

Before he could, Oliver kneed him in the gut… but he easily took it, headbutting Oliver before slicing at his arm and making him let go. Now with both hands free, he carefully put the syringe to one side before blocking three blows from Oliver with both arms. Oliver landed a fourth blow on his face, sending him to the ground.

He threw the scalpel with precision, about to enter Oliver's shoulder- but it was caught, then driven into his own shoulder. With a surprisingly high pain tolerance, he grabbed his opponent and tried to throw him over his head- but Oliver's arm was already on his throat, and his grip was weak from the shoulder wound.

He grasped around, barely finding a lamp and bringing toward Oliver's head- to be blocked by his other arm, and shatter. He managed to just barely kick Oliver off, and stood up- to be put in a chokehold by Laurel. He groaned in defeat.

Oliver coughed, annoyed at having been caught off guard, before stepping forward to tie the guy up with the cord from the broken lamp. "Laurel, call your father."

He lightly slapped the guy awake after tying him to a leg of the bed, and Laurel frowned. "He should be questioned by-"

Two people in black clothing stepped into the room, and one moved to untie the 'doctor.' The other spoke, "We're sorry for his hotheadedness and bad timing, agent Queen. But we'd rather not waste time."

Oliver realized. "You're ARGUS."

She nodded, while Laurel mouthed, 'Agent?' "Of course. Now then, we'll have to take Miss Lance."

She turned to Laurel. "I think using a syringe on the IV as planned would be most comfortable. I can assure you the papers are in order. I'd rather not delay, unless you have something to say first?"

Oliver couldn't bother to hide being an ARGUS agent at this point. "Did Waller authorize this?"

The female agent just nodded, as Laurel asked, growing more bewildered with each phrase. "Where do you intend on taking me?"

Oliver saw a growing futility in the situation, that he couldn't prevent at this moment without risking Waller's ire, a dangerous prospect. The agent stated a rehearsed answer, "A safe place, with food, water, top notch medical professionals. There's a lot of anomalous 'energy' in your body, energy that could tear apart you or someone close to you."

She unceremoniously stepped toward the IV, injecting it. "Time's up."

Oliver would step forward- but was held back by the other two agents, as Laurel was plunged into unconsciousness just as she began to speak. It would be the last time he saw her for a long, long time.

* * *

_10:55 AM_

_ARGUS Base_

He burst into the office. Waller looked up, expecting to see him- but not that he _would grab her by the lapel, unceremoniously yank her out of her chair, and force her against the wall painfully_. He growled, "What the devil are you trying to get me to do now, Amanda?!"

She cleared her throat. "Contrary to what your childhood led you to believe, the universe does not, in fact, revolve around you, Mr. Queen. The acquirement of Miss Lance has nothing to do with you."

He snarled. "Bullshit."

"No, it is not."

His grip loosened. "Then… _the scream_."

She stepped aside, orbiting the desk, moving away. "Of course. Your dear ex-girlfriend is a meta-human, an individual that has unnatural abilities. Abilities excellent for a super-soldier- or a super-criminal, or a super-assassin, or a super-terrorist. What a power trip it would be, to use your mere voice to break into a once-secure area, to flay the flesh off an opponent's bones, or to topple the very skyscrapers around you?"

"That's not-"

"-the kind of person Laurel is? This protocol, of containing all the metahumans, has been made a presidential decree. We can't just make up exceptions when it's personally convenient. Need I remind you someone else that wasn't that 'kind of person' was in fact a domestic terrorist- your godfather?"

Oliver didn't take the blow well, and that was worsened as a sickening feeling hit him. "You said super-soldier… you're thinking of using her and whoever else you can, like how you used me."

She ignored him, and finally put her foot down. "Mr. Queen, you have protested the consequences of being an agent of ARGUS previously, and you shall reap what you have sown. Effective immediately, you have been suspended from your position. You are no longer privy to matters of national security. Good day, Oliver Queen."

The three agents from the hospital stepped in, and he grimaced, before showing himself out without their 'help.'

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_10:35 PM_

Unaware of the memories flashing before Oliver's eyes, Barry tentatively nodded, feeling uncertain but somewhat thankful- as he was hit with a bad dizzy spell, and began to fall over.

Oliver stood up suddenly, through the pain, and called out, "Barry!"

He collapsed to the floor, his senses failing, his vision going dark, his eyes not picking up what Oliver was saying, and losing consciousness almost instantly.

A few minutes later, he woke up.

Oliver hovered next to him, using a cane and ignoring how his leg protested. "Good to have you back. I was worried."

Barry sat up abruptly, then winced as a wave of syncope hit him. "What happened?"

Oliver had a pill, then pointed at a stack of fifty or so IV bags. "You're the scientist. What kind of metabolism do you think someone with superspeed has?"

Barry slowly stood up, groaning as realization hit his already hurting skull like a truck. "One where I'd have to eat a lot. Regularly."

Oliver nodded. "You're lucky I stocked up on those bags."

Barry sighed. "I'm sorry it's not going to be easy procuring food for not just yourself, but me as well."

Oliver shrugged. "Relax, Barry. I'm sure you can help with that using your super speed."

Barry tilted his head, then opened, closed, and opened his mouth before speaking. "Eventually, they'd notice, and trace me via satellite to here- because I leave a trail of lightning behind me."

Oliver's eyebrows shot up at that. 'Perhaps he has more powers than super-speed…' "Well, I was already planning on having to get enough food for a large number of people, given the break out coming up- and some of those we help may be willing to help us in turn."

Barry shakily walked, glancing around him at the makeshift set up in place. "It's still difficult to imagine us doing this. We'll probably die, sooner or later. If not both of us, then one of us. And it's gonna hurt, a lot. At this point… any further loss..."

Oliver sighed. "But we must. Look, I get if you don't want to do it. I was more than reluctant to bring you into the vigilante work in any way at all even after you'd saved me."

Barry cracked a tight smile. "If you can call positively murderous 'more than reluctant.'"

Oliver almost chuckled, and Barry's smile became slightly more strained. A determined gleam entered Oliver's eyes. "Even if you don't do this, I will. One day. I just thought it would be good to have help out there."

He suddenly had cold feet, as the voice of his foster father rose up in protest of the idea, like a cobra preparing to sink its fangs into its prey. It whispered insidiously into his ear, to save himself, not to take a risk that could ever end in his demise or suffering- or the pain of losing a friend. "But why?!"

"Because people I care about are in those prisons… and because it's right, Barry, and you know that. I have to fix it."

Still lightheaded and feeling overwhelmed, as he paced around, Barry exploded. "Well, how's that working for you? To me, it looks like all you got was failure and dead friends!"

Frustrated with Barry's volatile emotions, Oliver closed his eyes and ignored the outburst, remembering his first attempt.

* * *

_December 27, 2013_

_10:38 PM_

Even with not being an agent at the moment, Oliver used some backdoors and a password or two he'd observed some agents use in embarrassingly open settings, even if the base was heavily guarded, to get into the ARGUS mainframe.

Soon enough, given he already had inside experience, he acquired the location of the prison they'd be holding Laurel and other metahumans from Star City, and the schematics.

Getting in wasn't simple, but he was capable enough. He'd have to get past them very carefully, and take care of those within very quickly. After that, he wouldn't have much time to get to the cells without being found out. Upon reaching Laurel, he'd have to either use a guard's identification or break in.

There was a complicated choice to be made. He could let everyone out, or just Laurel. The first would make it easier to get through the horde of guards descending upon him. However, it would risk deaths, guard and prisoner alike, and he didn't know how the prisoners might abuse their power. He couldn't possibly organize them in this situation- but could he leave behind other innocents like Laurel who had just been unfortunate enough to be hit by that explosion?

And he needed an exit strategy. Brute force would require luck, and perhaps the help of Laurel's scream, if she was even conscious (and not in a weakened state). Sneaking out, even while masquerading as a guard, wasn't possible given how thorough ARGUS was, not while he didn't really have anyone on the inside. The ground below had been carefully vetted. As for the sky… he'd need a helicopter. Or a jetpack, but that was just wishful thinking.

Perhaps this would be worth abusing company resources. Might as well have Rochev complain about an actual abuse- and a mildly amusing one at that. Time to call Diggle and Felicity. No rest for the wicked's friends and all that.

_00:45 AM_

Oliver barely managed to get through the perimeter with blindspots in the guards' visions (tiptoeing around despite carrying a quiver on his back and a bow in his hand, behind the guards, and he was sure Felicity's sudden laugh had been about that very mental image), careful use of distractions, and precise manipulation of the cameras from Felicity. Diggle was already on his way to pilot the helicopter.

Those that were inside, Oliver evaded as much as possible, and swiftly took those he encountered by surprise, fairly silently. The network of turns used to impede the speed of intruders and confuse those escaping allowed him to immediately take down each guard just as they saw him, with a blow to the skull, chokehold, taser arrow, or less efficient tranquilizer arrow. At times, even before, with Felicity's careful recitation of the footage up ahead moments before she would alter the feed.

Oliver was on the home stretch, no guards and a turn from Laurel's cell block- as there was a sudden explosion on Felicity's end of the comms. She shrieked, then he could barely hear a voice shouting- then the comms went silent.

He hissed. "Felicity? Felicity?!"

He was immensely concerned- but Laurel was one turn away. Like a puppet on strings, he mechanically moved forward, and saw the cells- with no one in them. 'It's a trap.'

He could only hope they hadn't gotten to Diggle. He drew an explosive arrow, and aimed at a corner. That part of the ceiling caved in, and he climbed up the rubble as guards below were no doubt converging on him. 'Damn this, damn it all.'

Oliver went up into a surveillance room, and in the chaos of the floor collapsing and the badly lit room he took down the security officers easily enough, as the ARGUS techs scrambled. 'Come on, Diggle…'

He made his way up, resorting eventually to close quarters combat as his supply of arrows dwindled. After using up his explosive arrows and dealing with a staircase, he arrived at the roof at last, the sound of the helicopter's rotors slowing down easily heard.

Oliver was immediately blinded by a bright light on the helicopter he saw across from him. He stared through it at a silhouette approaching him- but slowly.

It was an utterly calm, casual walk. One with extreme smugness and severe detachment. The comm reactivated.

He heard Diggle speak. "Sorry man… they got us. I didn't get within a kilometer of the helicopter. Felicity and I both got tied up for the time being. Literally."

Oliver could only sigh in defeat as he realized the damnable silhouette of Amanda Waller was smirking at him. "You are still as predictable as the day I recruited you, Queen. And I suspect you will be such until the day you die- likely, from said predictability. We transported everyone from here the moment I confirmed you had managed to access the ARGUS mainframe surreptitiously."

He almost fell to his knees. "What now?"

She gestured to the helicopter. "You stop. And you never try again. Or I reveal your identity, I strip you of your long held secrets, and make you a clandestine operative of mine once again."

But his mind was already planning a next attempt.

* * *

_October 7, 2014_

_10:50 PM_

Oliver opened his eyes, and admitted, "Yes, I failed. Multiple times. But success requires dedication."

He vaguely remembered some details of science he had pounded into his head while trying to get a date with a physics major back when his interests lied less in archery and preventing crime and more along the line of finding females with an appealing physique. "Barry, perhaps you should tell me, where would science be if Edison gave up not at the ten thousandth try, but the first? If Marie Curie hadn't researched radioactivity and then lost her life to it?"

Barry suddenly stopped. That cold, calculated, logical manner of thinking entered his head again- but with a hint of his own voice. A hint of his own firm beliefs of what was truly _right_. And of when he had first solidified them, of when his mother died, and his father was arrested.

Oliver's voice became soft. "I'm sorry if you can't do the same, but ever since I landed on Lian Yu, I have dedicated my life to righting wrongs."

Barry remembered his own father, who had also been wrongfully imprisoned. A wrong he himself had long dedicated himself to righting. That cold barrier broke, to be replaced by another hard facet in his mind- the determination to right wrongs, even those of others, just as Oliver does. He shook his head. "No. You're right. I can- _must_ do this. These people… I can help them. To not do so is a failure of it's own from the start."

Oliver slowly nodded, slightly surprised at the swift change in demeanor, then opened up a schematic on one monitor. "Well, I was considering this specialized prison, nearby. But first... you need a suit."

* * *

**A/N:**

And that concludes the second chapter. I hope everyone liked this.


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